Hi all, I need some advice. I have a 66 Riv GS with the single Q jet. I have aquired the buick iron dual quad manifold and two new 500 performer manual choke carbs, aftermarket progressive linkage and two foam type edelbrock air cleaners (tringle shaped). I have both a NOS dual quad cam and a Isky ground HP-2 cam (from Classic buicks), new stock lifters and a rebuilt stock distibutor (single quad). I am having hard exhaust seats installed in a spare set of heads and will attempt a very moderate port and polish. New pushrods also. The engine is tight and seems well balanced, approximately 30,000 on a rebuild. I will start the conversion soon and am looking for any (and all) advice on the following subjects or any others you can think of. 1) I am not convinced that the Isky cam will be a better choice than the original. 2) The vacuum and mechanical advance on the distributor may need to be tinkered with. 3) PCV with this type air cleaner may be low, should I go into the carb base?. If so primary or secondary carb? 4) Any thin spots in the heads I need to be aware of? 5) Any ideas on a source for headers, the only local pipe bender looked at the engine bay, shook his head and walked away. 6) I had someone tell me that it is possible to rig this car up with a overdrive tranny, I believe he said a 200R4 but I could be wrong. Any thoughts would be appreciated. I know I am messing with a classic but I just can't help myself.
T/A Performance http://www.taperformance.com/nailhead_shortys.htm has headers for the Nailhead motors. They have/are going to fit them to the '66 Riv' as well. As for the rest I don't have a clue as I am only going to where you currently are ('65 401 w/'66 intake and 800cfm Qjet). Best of luck!
Nice looking car Lou! I hope those heads arrive soon, I am curious to see how long it actually takes and the condition of the packaging when they arrive. I think the thinest spots when porting are on the exhaust side by where the head bolts are. What are you hoping to accomplish with your setup? Do you want it to go as fast as possible or just look and sound cool?
Thanx Into_l for the lead to TAperf, I checked with them when I originally started collecting parts for this conversion and they said they had nothing. Maybe they took my suggestion to heart and forgot to call me??? I will give them a shout and get some coming, has anyone had any experience with the coating process they use? Hi TXG, Thanx for the comment. I am sure the heads will make it fine. As to why, thats a good question. I just feel there is a breathing problem in this engine. I have replaced the stock Q-jet with one from Edelbrock and it helped a little but is still lacking in mid to high range. I scored a 2x4 intake cheap and decided to give the conversion a shot. I am actually planning on putting the headers in with the reworked heads and trying that first with the Q-jet then going to the cam/intake swap. My real problem is there is no local talent here with nailhead experience so I am basically on my own.
Hi Lou, First of all, the general consensus among nailheaders is installing valve seats into a nailhead is generally not recommended, or even necessary. The head castings are thin in this area, and installing seats may cause more problems...The stock heads and seats hold up very well due to the composition of the cast iron used. The Q-jet is considered to be a very good performer....Don't expect dual quads to make a noticable difference in performance. Of course, they LOOK SOOOOO much better!!! If you're using the stock Q-jet air cleaner, try an open element air cleaner. The stock one is VERY restrictive...just replacing it will make a big difference. Can you post the cam specs for the KB cam? .....don't know how it compares to the stockers. The 66 425 and 63-66 401 cams are the same. The 59-401, 63-65 425, and 425 8 bbl use a slightly hotter cam. The stock cams perform well. Installing a too radical profile will kill the low rpm torque of your nailhead...you need the torque in a heavy car like the Riv. The dual quad distributor curve will help, providing you have good gas available. But too much advance will cause the engine to ping, esp in a heavy car. The transmission adapters currently available have some design drawbacks. I'd keep the SP400 you have until a better design adapter comes out. Contact Bill from the Buickstreet website.....he's done wonders with his setup....he'll steer you in the right direction concerning mods that work in a big Buick. You might also want to post your messsage on the YaHoo nailhead board for some more opinions: http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/NailHeadBuick/
Thanx wkillgs, That is most interesting about the hard seats for the exhaust. nomally I mix some avgas with premium (haha) pump gas (40-60) and usually have no problem with pinging. I occasionally go on road trips and end up with whatever I can find. As I live in Alaska that gets to be a risky proposition. I have have actually carried ten gallons of avgas in the trunk on trips (I never said I was smart). Things have gotten better but still you get some low octane stuff out in the bush. I couldn't agree with you more about the Q-jet being a good performer and I plan on trying it again after I swap heads and to headers. The Q-jet has gotten a bad rap from people who don't understand the secondary circuit. You caught me on the air cleaner, I have the original chrome unit with the big filter but small snorkel. It is actually something I have procastinated on changing, I will have to use a low profile unit due to poor hood clearance. I will try that when I get back home. Since my original post I have been really looking hard at the tranny issue in respect to the lacking of mid to high end performance. I have no experience with a VP converter, is it possible that I have a problem there? If anyone has some simple tests I can perform to see if it is operating properly, I will give that a try. The only reason I am thinking of trading out tranny's is to get an overdrive gear for a little more mileage but I noticed there are some aftermarket OD units to fit the ST-400, any exp with them? This is really my first experience with buicks and especially auto trans for performance. In my younger days I ran mostly Pontiac and chevy gear, all manual trans and big blocks with tri-power or dual quad. I have been out of the arena for 20 years (raising kids) so take it easy on an old man. I will post the spec's from the Isky cam, I got it through Classic Buicks before they regularly carried the Isky line, I went back to their website last night and noticed they don't carry the 425 HP-2 anymore (that scares me). I also have a new dual quad cam from Buick and will mike them both to see what the diff's are. Thanx for the comments, they are all appreciated and make me look hard at this conversion. I don't really worry about the engine looking cool, I do keep my tail end nice and shiny as thats what I want most people to remember the car by!!!
If your trans is not giving satisfactory performance, look into your "idle stator" and ""stator and detent" switches. They may not be properly adjusted, broken or completely missing. These are key to getting full potential from your car Below is the stator and detent...aluminum bodied "dog dick" bottom right hand, attaches to carb linkage.
The idle detent. In elbow of throttle linkage (again, bottom right). Wires into "stator and detent" (pictured above). The manuals show how to properly adjust. To check for proper operation, turn ignition key to accy position, you'll hear solenoids clicking at front and rear of tranny. You need a quiet spot. Steve
If you switch over to 2x4 it's also imperative that you get the correct distributor, so you can set your timing to 12. Below left are the single carb weights/springs, to the right, for the dual-qual setup. the springs are heavier on the right, and you'll notice a step at the end of the weights curve. This will bring your 2x4 nailhead to life regardless of what cam you use. This is the core difference between the single 4bbl and 2-4bbl distributor. Without it, and it's like you didn't get invited to the party!!Hope it helps..PS I emailed you. Steve
Steve, I never knew the weights were different in the 8 bbl dist....thats cool!....Do you know if the slot in the dist that limits advance is the same as the reg dist? Or is it just the weights? I had to weld up the advance slot in my 4bbl dist to give me a curve like the 8bbl version. Then I just used a basic advance curve kit from Moroso. It made a big difference on my car. Lou, The nailhead likes about 32 degrees total of mechanical advance.....The 4bbl dist starts at 2.5 degrees BTDC, then mech advances to 32 degrees.....but the 8bbl dist starts at 10 degrees BTDC, then also advances to 32 degrees total....so in effect, the 8bbl dist has less 'travel' in the mech advance....I don't know if it's just the weights, or if the advance limit slot is different... Try a different air cleaner....it made an incredible difference on my car! I installed a Q-jet intake/carb, (replacing two 500 cfm Carters)....with the stock 66 air cleaner, it felt doggy at higher rpms, I replaced the ac and it felt like I gained 30 horsepower! Sure put a smile on my face!!
Both dist's use the same baseplate, for sure. The vacuum cans are of the same calibration, the difference is in the weights and springs. And, like I said...what a difference! Steve
Thanks, Steve.... By any chance are the weights/springs available anywhere? It would be a great product for someone to reproduce!
I bump into them from time to time, but know of noplace that is making repops...life should be so easy!! That's why I love these Buicks! Half the fun is in the hunt! The "bigger" half is driving them! Steve
They were out of them again? Did you try www.nailheaddistributoradvanceweightsandsprings.com not sure about the quality, though. Steve
Contact Dave Ray He goes by the ignitionman on this board. He has a web site too, davessmallbodyhei or something like that.:bglasses: Ray, Dave E-mail Address(es): sparkman451@earthlink.net
This old thread from 2003 came up when I clicked the New Posts button. I guess someone voted in the poll above, and this counts as a new post ? The last "real post" goes back to September 2003.
